How to Keep a Nature Journal With Your Child (Even If You Can't Draw)

A nature journal is a notebook where a child records what they notice outdoors. It is one of the most useful and least expensive science habits, because it trains the skill scientists rely on: careful looking. It does not need to be pretty, and you do not need to be an artist to help.

What you need

A plain notebook with blank pages (lines are fine if that is what you have)
A pencil, plus colored pencils if you like
A clipboard or hard book to lean on
A zip bag for small things to look at, such as a leaf or a feather

Pencil is better than pen. It encourages quick, brave marks and can be erased.

What goes on a page

A simple page has five parts. Children can do all of them or only the ones they enjoy.

Date, time and place. “14 October, morning, back garden.”
Weather. A word or a small symbol: sun, cloud, rain, wind.
A drawing. One thing, drawn larger than you think you need.
Labels. Arrows pointing to parts: petal, stem, wing, bark.
A question or a wonder. “Why do the leaves on this side look different?”

Add a measurement when you can: the length of the leaf in centimetres (inches), how many petals, how many birds in five minutes.

Sketching tips for non-artists

You and your child can learn these together.

Use shapes. A leaf is an oval, a snail shell is a spiral, a bird is a circle with a smaller circle on top. Start with the shapes and add details.
Look more than you draw. Spend as long looking at the object as at the page. Ask, “What is the longest part? Where does it curve?”
Draw what you see, not what you think it looks like. Children often draw a “symbol” of a tree. Ask them to look at where the branches actually split.
Draw it big. A page-sized leaf is easier than a tiny one.
Label instead of perfecting. A rough drawing with good labels is better science than a beautiful drawing with none.
Try a blind contour. Look only at the object, and draw its outline without looking at the paper. It is silly, it is fast, and it teaches the eye to slow down.

Prompts for when you are stuck

Find three different kinds of leaf. How are they alike and different?
Pick something small. What does it look like through a magnifying glass, if you have one?
Sit still for five minutes. Write down everything you hear.
Draw the same tree at the same time every month.
Find something that is changing. What will it look like next week?
Make a rubbing of bark by holding paper on it and shading with a pencil.

Make the habit stick

Keep it short. Ten minutes is enough.
Pick the same time each week. After a weekend breakfast or after school.
Do your own page. Children copy what adults do. Your page can be messy.
Do not correct the drawing. Say what you notice: “You drew the little hairs on the stem. I would have missed those.”
Look back. Every few months, flip through earlier pages together. Children love seeing how much has changed.

Younger and older children

A four- or five-year-old can make a mark and tell you about it while you write their words beside it. An eight-year-old can add labels and measurements. A twelve-year-old might try a table of weekly observations or a graph of daily temperatures.

Safety

Do not eat or taste anything you find while collecting. Wash hands after touching soil, plants or animals. Leave living things where you found them unless you are borrowing a leaf or a feather, and do not disturb nests.

Where to go next

Our post on science drawing and observation skills goes deeper on looking carefully, and science notebooks for children covers other formats. You can also try the Earth and Sky unit for outdoor observation.